A YouTuber who consistently spread fake news about famous girl group 'Ive' member Jang Won-young and earned hundreds of millions in revenue appealed after receiving a suspended prison sentence in the first trial from the prosecution.
The Incheon District Prosecutors' Office announced on the 21st that they filed an appeal with the court against the first trial ruling that sentenced A, the operator of a 'delusion detoxification facility,' to two years in prison with three years of probation, on charges of defamation and insult under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
Earlier, during A's sentence hearing held on Oct. 10, the prosecution sought a four-year prison term and approximately 200 million won in additional fines. The prosecution explained, 'The defendant committed serious crimes that caused irreparable damage to the victims and obtained a significant revenue exceeding 200 million won,' and 'considering that there are multiple victims and that the defendant has not been forgiven by them, we appealed.'
He also noted, 'The prosecution will continue to respond strictly to criminal acts involving malicious content known as "cyber harassment" to keep the public safe from crime.'
Previously, A was charged with defaming seven celebrities, including Jang Won-young, by posting false videos on YouTube 23 times from October 2021 to June last year. A particularly posted insulting videos 19 times about five of them and was charged with obstructing their agency's business. A's YouTube channel had around 60,000 subscribers, and it is reported that he made an average monthly profit of about 10 million won from the posted videos. The total revenue he garnered from the videos is said to amount to 250 million won.